Hello, I have been teaching English in Spain for about 3 yrs. and would like to take an on-line TEFL certificate course. Like many don´t know which to choose and I am concerned about the schools reputation and validity of it´s certificate. I came upon LTTC --and have communicated with them and I am considering the course, because like many I don´t have time to study at a school and on-line is better for me. I would like to know if anyone is familiar with this on-line school? London Teacher Training College? If so I would really appreciate any helpful advice! Their web site is: http://www.teachenglish.co.uk ---Danila.

I can only speak from my experience but I managed to get a job near Bern, Switzerland with their TEFL certificate. The course itself is fairly challenging but at the same time interesting.I did the course as it kinda runs in the family. Both my parents were TEFL teachers and only my sister managed to escape. She works back in England in the NHS. I hope you enjoy teaching in Spain!

I'm a little late entering the debate on this one but for anyone considering taking a course with the LTTC I would advise you to look very closely at, not only their alleged 'accreditations', but also their qualifications.

I won't go into too much detail here but, I would especially beware of 'Degree' courses offered via their link with St Clements Unvestity, which appears to have a rather 'colourful' background & which has been black listed by some authorities as a 'degree mill'. Funnily enough, i challenged the LTTC earlier in the week over their 'Accreditations' & their link with St Clements & having today received a sort of 'no comment' type reply, I can't help noticing that the Degree Courses & all insgnia, links, etc to St Clements appear to have been removed from their website.

Anyway, if anyone does want to know anything about the other organisations listed under 'accreditations' on the LTTC website, contact me direct (if that is possible here) & I will pass on the details.

On a more positive note, my research has shown that the only 'validating' or accrediting bodies that appear to have any real credence for TESOL/TEFL are Trinity College London, The College of Teachers & University of Cambridge. Although set up by several companies within the industry, the other scheme that looks as if it exists for the right reasons is ASDEC, which does appear to provide checks & enforce standards.

Sorry this is a little long, but believe me; it could have been a lot longer had i listed ALL that made me uncomfortable about the LTTC.

If you are going to run a check on every TESOL course and every so-call accrediting body, you are going to have your work cut out. As administrator and recruiter for the largest single group of independent but non-profit schools in Asia, I've been there and done that. Practically all the accrediting organisations you list are indeed little short of a scam, but many TESOL institutes have been naïve enough to pay them.

The LTTC however provides a perfectly good distance-course; it is very theory based as naturally there is no way in which an on-line or a distance course can provide any practical training to enable candidates to gain classroom confidence. The LTTC course is well moderated, and candidates are sometimes required to resubmit their assignments (at no extra cost). I have a copy of the course and can vouch for the academic value of its content.To feel uncomfortable about the LTTC would be to feel uncomfortable about 90% of all TESOL organisations.

There are some organisations, especially one or two which have sophisticated websites and make claims to being the largest in the world, which are an outright scam and must be avoided at all costs. Anyone who would like further information, please contact me through my blog article on this subject at:http://miathai.com/rose_with_any_name/?page_id=6

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

Unlike most other accrediting organisations, ASET is an official British accrediting agency. To be accredited, organisations must undergo physical inspections. Certificates, diplomas, and degrees issued by ASET licenced organisations are fully recognised by the British government as an academic qualification.

The LTTC is accredited by ASET. An interesting excercise would be to discover just how any other British TESOL course providers are.

For more answers on matters of accreditation world wide, and any other TESOL courses, you can post your questions on this non commercial Thailand TESOL forum where they will be answered objectively by independent moderators.

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

Last edited by systematic on 31 Mar 2009, 12:27, edited 2 times in total.

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I'm sorry Gudrun, - I did not know that there is no Google in Germany.

- ODLOC (Overdraft Line of Credit Loan) to provide protection from inadvertently overdrawing a bank account. It saves the embarrassment and aggravation of settling a returned check dispute.

Last edited by systematic on 31 Mar 2009, 12:26, edited 1 time in total.

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ODL QC - The Open and Distance Learning Quality CouncilODLQC is the UK guardian of quality in all non-traditional types of learning.http://www.odlqc.org.uk/

You see, it's a Q, not an O

Last edited by systematic on 31 Mar 2009, 12:25, edited 1 time in total.

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

The LTTC has come under some fire recently and I would like to thank you all for the numerous PMs.I will reproduce here a long answer I have just sent to one member as I think it is useful for every one. Firstly however, I would like to assure you all that I have no vested interest in the LTTC other than being a recruiter that accepts its certificates along with those of several hundred others.

The LTTC has cleaned up its act enormously and can wear its British government ASET logo with pride. The Quite website is a poorly designed, unprofessional BlueVoda template, which is not even optimised to load correctly some browsers. Although the organisation is genuinely motivated and gives some sound advice, it is nothing more than you have already been given to your questions on this forum, or in the other pages on this site or in Alex's blogs.. Furthermore it looks as if they are also trying to join the already too long list of self appointed accrediting organisations. Finally, among the organisations they list, one is very dubious, and one is a proven scam - it only accredits its own schools and the quality of its website and the language it uses will bear testimony to this. I happen to have inside information!

If schools are claiming to be accredited by the College of Teachers, write to Arthur Reed and ask him if they are either genuinely accredited, or just listed corporate or individual members. Many TESOL courses trade on the fact that as simple listed members, adding the CoT logo lends credence to their operation. It might to the TESOL student, but we recruiters and administrators know otherwise.

I'll repeat again from an earlier posting, that it will be impossible for anyone to police the world of TESOL single handed. There are those of us who have been recruiters and school administrators for decades and the only way we can control the situation is by refusing the certificates and degrees which we know to be the issue of substandard courses or diploma mills.Good morning.Thank you for your email.I can confirm that The London Teacher Training College is an ASET approved centre.ASET do issue the certificates.Please contact us if you require any further assistance.Kind regardsShelli BartholomewBusiness Development Enquiries AdministratorTel 08707 202 909Fax 02476 516 505Website http://www.ediplc.comEmail enquiries@ediplc.comEDIInternational HouseSiskin Parkway EastMiddlemarch Business ParkCoventryCV3 4PERegistered Number 3914767. Registered in England. It is therefore just as important - or even more so - not only to check the qualifications of the TESOL course providers and to check that they are genuine members, but also to verify the credentials of the 'accreditors'.

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

Hi Paul, re LTTC I have a nasty experience with them this year (2008). I finished my correspondence TEFL Diploma course with them in June and am still waiting for my actual diploma, now they are not answering my calls (i.e. always on answer-phone when I call, nor replying to my e-mails), I paid for the course and passed each of the 4 Modules with A's. What can I do? No diploma, no work! They claim they sent me the diploma once (I didn't receive it) and that to resend it I must pay another Pounds 12. I sent them a cheque 5 weeks ago, and got no reply, when I called yesterday I got Ms Sally Marshall who said she received the cheque and would 'sort everything out in the morning and let me know', and today when I called I always get the answa-phone. I would definitely not recommend the LTTC. I hoped to start looking for work at the end of August and had to postpone it due to lack of Diploma.

Hi Toto,I think maybe the best thing you could do would be to take the matter up with their accrediting organisation and e-mail Ms Marshal of your intent. ASET is an accrediting body for the British government and stands no nonsense from its members. Full contact details are provided in my posting above. I am sure that the LTTC would not want to risk losing their highly coveted recognition.

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

Thanks for your kind PM. I'm glad I was able to help. I'm sure your problem was an isolated incident as we have employed several teachers with LTTC diplomas in our schools in Thailand and they were all quite satisfied with the course.Nevertheless, I have noted your comments for future reference.

All the best,Systematic.

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

Can anyone PLEASE help me fight the ViaLingua organisation? They have closed ranks, the moderator refuses to reply to my emails. Where do I turn to next? I have tried the press, not interested. I am not after financial compensation, only want to expose the schools as money making machines.

SunShine,Admittedly there are an awful lot of scams in the TEFL course industry, but I've gone through every one of your 27 posts in the forums on this board and apart from complaints about landgrabs, free health care, bootcamps, oven doors, and bad spelling by other posters, I can't find any reference to what your new problem is.

Am I missing something?

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum

Hi Everybody,I was wondering if someone could answer my query concerning the MA of TESOL at LTTC !I have a chance to work at a certain university but I must hold an MA in this field of teaching English as a foreign language. My question is: will I be accepted if I have this MA of the LTTC? I also do not understand the real relation between St Clements' and LTTC ! Which university provides this MA ? Thank you for your help in advance.

mohamedansary72 wrote:My question is: will I be accepted if I have this MA of the LTTC?

Probably the best thing to to do would be to ask that 'certain university'.

I also do not understand the real relation between St Clements' and LTTC ! .

Also , probably the best thing to do is to ask LTTC - but it appears that LTTC can sometimes be a bit cagey about giving information. Nevertheless:

St Clements University is a private commercial university. It was registered in March 1995 as a university company in the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands and in April 2000 in the independent Commonwealth Nation of St Vincent and The Grenadines. Most courses are marketed and taught via this network of Affiliated Schools.

St Clements University is an institutional member of the International Council for Open and Distance Learning (ICDE). ICDE is officially recognised by the United Nations as the global non governmental organisation responsible for the field of open and distance learning, and is affiliated with the United Nations through UNESCO

http://www.education88.com

I offer any information or advice 'as is' and hope that it has been of help. I am not an admin of this board, and my postings do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board management.____________________Thailand TESOL forum